Marion flagged down Dean and Bobby as they ran out of the lab. "Found him. He's not responding."
Dean ran forward and got in Sam's face. "Sam! You hearing me?" Dean placed a hand on his brother's chest. Sam looked around, fear evident in his features. "Whoa. Look at me. Hey. All right, we gotta button this up. Come on, let's get out of here. Come on."
Marion followed slowly. She didn't want to follow, at all. She didn't want to see Jimmy Novak pulled apart. She knew Castiel was gone. She knew that his last act had been one of redemption. Why should she have to see the vessel that she'd come to identify as Castiel broken by the Leviathans? She made it to the water just as the Leviathans went under. She watched as they became a whirlpool of black sludge and Jimmy Novak disappeared.
"Aw, hell." Bobby said, bringing attention to the fact that the Leviathans had let themselves loose into the public water reservoir.
"Damn it!" Dean said.
"You said it. Those… whatever you call 'ems…" Bobby started.
"Leviathan." Sam provided.
"Right. If they're in the pipes, they got themselves a highway to anywhere."
"Awesome." Dean said, bitterly, before reaching down to pull Castiel's trench coat out of the water. "Okay. So, he's gone." He said, looking around at his family. Marion was still staring at the water.
"Yeah. Rest in peace. If that's in the cards." Bobby offered.
Dean folded the coat, roughly, and looked down at it, sadly. "Dumb son of a bitch."
"Well, he was friends with us, wasn't he? Can't get much dumber than that. Come on. Those things'll be coming up for air soon." Bobby said, putting a hand on Marion's shoulder. Sam and Dean got in the Impala, but Marion just stared.
"I thought… I thought I was prepared. I knew it was gonna… Bobby, he's dead." She whispered, the tears that had been resting at the edges of her eyes finally taking their plunge.
"Come on, girl. We gotta go. Cry on the way." Bobby said, before pushing her toward the car.
~~~~~~~~~~##########~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^~~~~~~~~~~**********
Marion sat at the kitchen table, an untouched coffee mug sitting in front of her. She couldn't say how long she'd actually been sitting there, but Sam had been passed out on the couch for several hours now and she could tell the light had changed. Bobby picked up her mug and put it in the microwave.
"You ain't moved in 3 hours." Bobby said, setting the mug back down in front of her.
Marion blinked rapidly, picking up the mug and giving a weak smile. "Sorry." She whispered.
"Don't be sorry. Talk to me."
"I don't know, Bobby. He… I never should've fallen for him. It would have solved all of this… emotional issue. If I had just, just listened to God."
"Girl… he was a dumb son of a bitch. That he ever let you go is a sign of that. Now, it's time to move on. Those Leviathans are going to eat the world. We need you in the game."
"I am. I've got… I can't stay here, Bobby. Everything's about to-"
"You're skipping out again?" Dean asked, walking into the kitchen.
"I have to, Dean, in order to stay an asset. These Leviathans are bad."
"Sam is breaking down. Cas is gone. Leviathans are gonna eat us all, and you, you gotta leave again."
"I'm not doing this on purpose, Dean! For once, though, I'm gonna listen to God. He said I can do more good away. You don't know me. Castiel didn't know me. So, the Leviathans won't either. The thing I've been bitching about for years is an actual asset. I'm not just leaving, but… I have to leave."
"That's just great." Dean said. "Me and Bobby got to deal with Sammy all by ourselves."
Marion looked down at her coffee. "Maybe it's not as bad as it seems, with him. We've come back from a lot worse."
"But what if it is as bad as it seems? What if he ends up in a nuthouse with Martin, scared of his shadow? What if we can't fix him this time?"
"Look. I'm sorry. If you have to Baker Act him, I will be here for you, but I will be no use if I stay."
"When?"
"After Sam wakes up and we analyze his damage."
"You call. When you leave, you keep in touch."
"I won't. But I'll email. And I'll keep a cell active for emergencies."
Dean sat at the table. "Damn."
Marion reached over and patted Dean's hand. "I'm sorry."
"I get it. It sucks… but I get it."
~~~~~~~~~~##########~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^~~~~~~~~~~**********
Marion stood back as Dean woke Sam up. Sam jumped awake.
"Whoa. That's twelve hours straight. I'm calling that rested. Here. Hydrate and, uh, protein-ate."
Sam took the bottle of water and protein bar he was offered. "Breakfast in bed."
"Don't get used to it. Let me see that hand." Dean said, unraveling the bandage on his hand and giving the stitches a once-over. "Eh, you'll live. Here."
Sam sucked in a hissing breath as Dean poured whiskey over the wound. "All right. Take it easy."
"So. Ooze invasion. Any leads?" Sam asked. Marion was watching his eyes. His eyes kept flicking over to the kitchen.
"I got my feelers out." Bobby said, walking over with a new bandage. "Whatever they're up to, it ain't- ain't about going Mothra down Main Street. They'll turn up. You seem pretty eager to stretch your legs, you know."
Sam made a sound of agreement.
"Now, onto our other big problem. How're you doin'? And do not say okay." Dean ordered.
"I'm not okay." Sam admitted.
"Ya think?" Dean snapped.
"Hey. Go a little easy."
"There's nothing easy about it, Bobby, okay. We acted like he had everything under control."
"I get it. I'm sorry." Sam said. "Look, I-I didn't exactly want to crack up, you know?"
"What the hell happened back there?" Dean demanded.
"Well, it's not just flashbacks anymore."
"Well, then, what?" Marion asked.
"It's more like… I'm seeing through the cracks."
"What does that mean?" Dean growled.
"It means, I'm having a difficult time figuring out what's real."
"Hallucinations."
"For starters." Sam admitted.
"Well, for starters, if you're tripping Hell's Bells, why would you hide that?"
"I wasn't hiding it, Dean, I- I was just not talking about it. I mean, it seemed like you three had enough going on as it was. Look, I- I just figured, try to hold onto the safety bar and ride it out, you know? But it's getting more specific."
"As in specifically, what?" Dean asked.
Marion watched Sam's eyes dart toward the kitchen again, and it dawned on her. "He's seeing Lucifer." Dean and Bobby looked her way, but Sam's eyes cast downward in shame. "He keeps looking over toward the kitchen, then looking back, like he's hoping he won't be seen. He is definitely seeing something. So, what's he saying, Sammy?"
"He says you're too smart to be a Winchester."
"That's nice, but what was he saying at the lab? What had your head all fucky, there?" She pushed.
"He says that none of this is real, that I'm still in the Cage and this is all an illusion. He said, I never made it out of Hell."
As Sam tried to hold back his tears, the reality of the problem hit the group. Dean grabbed the bottle of whisky and two glasses. He offered one to Marion, intent on drinking from the bottle, but Marion shook her head. She could prove it was fake. She knew things about Lucifer, things Sam's hallucination couldn't know, but that would mean telling her family what she'd done in her ill-conceived revenge attempt.
"What the hell, Sam?" Dean finally expressed.
"I told you." Sam said, defeat in his voice.
"I mean, seriously, how do you, how do you even argue with that?"
"I know. It's a problem."
"Well, now wait, I got it. Why would the Devil holodeck you a whole new life when he could just kick your ass all over the Cage?"
"'Cause, as he puts it, 'you can't torture someone who has nothing left for you to take away'."
"Okay, fine. But this Malibu dream mansion that he, he, he makes for you to take away is this post-apocalyptic mess?" Dean asked, gesturing broadly. Sam looked down, then over at the kitchen, again. "Wait. Are you seeing him right now?"
Sam nodded, sadly.
"You know that he's not real. Right?"
"He says the same thing about you." Sam responded, his voice trembling a bit.
Dean looked pointedly at Bobby, who took a deep breath and headed out of the room. "I'm goin' back to work."
Dean stared at Sam for a few moments before following Bobby. Marion moved to sit next to Sam. "Sam. He's not real." She whispered.
Sam shook his head. "I can't know." He whispered.
"Sam… ask him how he got me to trust him, how he pretended to care."
He seemed to listen to an unheard voice before he sighed. "He says you have a thing for angels, so it was easy to trick you into thinking he was a better seraph than Cas."
"See, Sam? That is the vaguest answer your brain could come up with. Because you don't know, your brain cold read. It's technically correct but as vague as a dime-store psychic. If you were really in the Pit, and he was really taunting you, he would've given details. He would've bragged. Don't you see?"
Sam listened to the hallucination again. "He said you missed the people who took you, so he gave them back to you. And when Cas started treating you like you` were nothing, he filled that spot in your dreams."
Marion shook her head. This wasn't going to work. Sam had subconsciously paid a lot more attention to her than she had ever expected. The only way she could prove it would be to mention the marking ceremony, and she wasn't going to do that.
"He isn't there. We got you out. I got him out and I put him back. You aren't in the Pit, anymore."
Sam shook his head and Marion walked over to her twin. Sam pulled out his pistol and started to take it apart.
"So, what do you think? Martin-level crazy?" Dean asked.
Marion looked back at Sam. "I stand by what I said. If you have to completely 5150 him, I will come back. But look, he's not freaking out. Yeah, he's got the devil in his ear, but as long as he isn't going Son of Sam on us, I think we will be all right."
"That's something I hadn't even considered. Thanks."
"I'm here for you, Dean." She said, with a smirk.
Dean leaned over Bobby's shoulder to watch him. "Well, at least he's not curled up under the sink." Bobby muttered.
"Yeah, no, he's just sitting there silently field-stripping his weapon." Dean tossed back, before walking to the other side of the kitchen table and pulling Sam's phone out of his jacket pocket.
"What are you doing?" Marion whispered.
"Turning on his GPS, case he decides to fly the cuckoo's nest."
"And you? How are you doing?" Bobby asked.
"Seriously, Bobby, it ain't like he's hexed, you know?" Dean said, sitting on the edge of the table. "I mean, what if it's the kind of crazy you can't fix?"
"Yeah, I'm- I'm worried too, but humor me for a second. How are you?"
"Who cares? Don't you think our mailbox is a little full right now? I'm fine."
"Right. And weren't you pissed at him when he said the same thing just a couple hours before he spilled his marbles all over the floor? Marion admitted she was having issues." Bobby asked.
"Yeah, well." Dean started, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I'm not Sam, okay? And I ain't Marion. I keep my marbles in a lead friggin' box. I'm fine. Really."
"Of course. Yeah. You just lost one of the best friends you ever had, your brother's in the bell jar, and Purgatory's most wanted are surfin' the sewer lines, but yeah, yeah, I get it. You're- you're fine." Bobby said, sarcastically.
"Good." Dean replied, hoping that Bobby would just drop it.
"Course, if at any time you want to decide that's utter horse crap, well I'll be where I always am. Right here." Bobby finished, eliciting a grin from Marion.
"What, you want to do couples' yoga, or you wanna get back to hunting the big bads?" Dean gave a small smile.
"Shut up. Idjit."
~~~~~~~~~~##########~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^~~~~~~~~~~**********
As Dean showed back up from a pie run, Marion walked out with a heavy duffel bag. She looked at Dean, remorsefully.
"So, you're leaving now?"
"There's never gonna be a perfect time. Best to go now, while we're in the eye of the storm." She said, setting her bag in the back of an old Chevy truck.
Dean set his paper grocery bag on the hood of the Impala and sighed. "Guess that makes sense."
Marion walked over and opened her arms for a hug. "Don't get dead."
"Can't make any promises." Dean wrapped his arms around his sister and kissed her forehead. "Pay attention to your email. Things go South with Sammy, I'm gonna hold you to coming back."
"Once a week, it's the best I can do."
"This better not be the last time I see you." Dean said, as she pulled away and headed to the truck.
A pang of guilt hit Marion as she climbed in behind the wheel. She was sure that she'd never be coming back. She didn't think she'd ever see her brothers or Bobby again. But she smiled at Dean and hoped she was hiding it well.
"Dean, don't die, okay?"
He nodded. "Keep in touch."